So I found this gorgeous lamp at a thrift store for $8, but no lampshade. I'm fairy cheap and can't bring myself to spend $20 or more on just a shade. However, I had this ugly old accordion shade that I found on the side of the road--I love that place--so I decided to use the bones of it. I dithered for a while between mediums: paint? paper? fabric? Then, one fortuitous afternoon, I found several skeins of art yarn at Hobby Lobby in perfect colors for my bedroom--for $1.83 each. Score!

Now for scandalous confession time: I don't care for Van Gogh. Aack! some of you sputter, he's a genius! impressionist master! color palette! brush strokes! blah blah blah. I know all that stuff. Still don't like him. His works make me depressed. I don't like tiramisu, either, so something's clearly wrong with my brain.

All that aside, Hubby looooooves Van Gogh. So I decided to work the yarn across the lampshade in swirls a la Starry Night. And behold:

It is better to have crafted and failed then never to have crafted at all.Yes, I am stalking the Toys and Playthings board. Thanks for noticing!I'm cheating on Craftster with Pinterest. It's ok though. There's overlap.

So I LOVE the look, especially with the light on- I am somewhat a VanGogh fan. I feel he is over exposed, but his work is interesting.

So silly question, I can't tell for sure- Did you glue the yarn on, or just swirl it through paint? I can't tell if I'm looking at 3D or 2D application. Love it either way! May have to steal this idea when I finally redo our bedroom. The previous owners had pretty neutral taste, so I haven't hated anything enough to be motivated to change it. That is good and bad.